EXPOSING FALSE SOLUTIONS, BUILDING REAL ANSWERS,CLIMATE JUSTICE FOR ALL
Bali, Indonesia (December 10, 2007) – Today, on international human rights day, peoples from all over the globe will gather for the closing session ofthe Solidarity Village for a Cool Planet, an initiative from differentsocial organizations and movements fighting against ecological and social injustice and working for alternatives to the policies and practices thatdestroy livelihoods and the environment.
In the past four days affected communities, Indigenous Peoples, women and peasants have given testimony on their direct experiences of climatechange, including floods, fires, drought, food insecurity, displacement andimpoverishment.
Participants of the Village exposed the false solutions to climate change proposed by international financial institutions, governments and the bigcorporations, such as agro-fuels, offsetting, and carbon trading. Speakershighlighted the failure of carbon trading to reduce overall emissions and exposed the cynical way it has been used by polluters to profit from theirpollution. Given the poor record of market solutions, and the tremendousinfluence of corporations inside the negotiations, the participants are deeply concerned about the direction the Bali talks are taking. People from across the planet – from the Pacific to the Atlantic – alsospoke of real solutions, such as local energy sovereignty, replacing high carbon emitting industrial agriculture with small scale sustainable farmingand food sovereignty, reducing the distance between working and living,radically changing current production and consumption patters, regaining control over resources, including forests, land, and water and reclaimingthe peoples’ sovereignty.
Throughout the four days, speakers emphasized that climate change is the result of the over-consumption and destruction of fossil fuels and othernatural resources, unsustainable production and consumption patters,excessive lifestyles, particularly in the North, and destructive policies such as trade liberalization and privatisation.The unifying spirit of the Solidarity Village for a Cool Planet is the callfor Climate Justice. By this we understand that countries and sectors that have contributed the most to the climate crisis — the rich countries andtransnational corporations of the North — must pay the cost of ensuringthat all peoples and future generations can live in a healthy and just world, respecting the ecological limits of the planet. In Bali, we took another step towards building a global movement forclimate justice.
The Solidarity Village for a Cool Planet (6-10 December 2007) was organized by The Indonesian People's Movement Against Neo-colonialism and Imperialism(GERAK LAWAN; The Indonesian Peasant's Union/ SPI, Indonesian Human RightsCommittee for Social Justice/ IHCS, Indonesian Anti Debt Coalition/ KAU, LS ADI, Federation of Trade Union Jakarta/ FSBJ, KAM LAKSI, Indonesian YouthFront Struggle/ FPPI, KMAI, SHI, Women Solidarity/ SP, WALHI, and Institutefor Global Justice/ IGJ together, Indonesian Workers Unions (SBI) with La Via Campesina, Friends of the Earth International, Focus on the GlobalSouth, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Migrant Forum in Asia,ATTAC Japan, Stop the New Round Coalition, Philippines, Kilusang Mangingisda (Fisherfolk Movement-Philippines), Hong Kong Confederation ofTrade Unions (HKCTU), Globalization Monitor, Hong Kong, TransnationalInstitute
Contacts: Kartini SPI/Via Campesina +62 81314761305
Joe Zacune, Friends of the Earth International +62 81338969955
